Monday Thoughts

Morning folks,
Time for an update on what I've been up to in the world of gaming and that of course is all Watch_Dogs. Actually that's a lie I did play some Star Wars Old Republic yesterday for a few hours but yes Watch_Dogs took up most of my week. Have I finished the story campaign? no course not! been too distracted with the side missions and collectibles. Yesterday I finally completed Act 1 of the story after completing all the QR codes around the city. I will be working on the story more now that the rest of the collectible stuff cannot be finished without making progress into the story.

Night time drive

So what do I think of the game so far? I love it and give it a solid 9 out of 10 right now. Would I say game of the year? not yet and reason for that is I need to give it more time before giving it my final verdict. The game is stunning and graphics wise very impressive, check out some of my screen shots on this page that I took on the PS4 to see what I mean.

City view

City day

Game story is still too early to say and it's ok right now but I don't know, it's just not gripping me straight away. But then again if you look at Assassin's Creed with the first one, I love the game but it wasn't until mid/end game that I got sucked into the story. I think this will be the same and in fact I look forward to seeing where they take this new IP and hope to see a full series.

Lake view

So far though I'm really enjoying the game and as I said I will come back to it with my final thoughts once the story is completed. I did also pick up the Season Pass as well so I will talk about the content for that as well once I've tried it.

Causing chaos

Other than Watch_Dogs I don't really have much to talk about concerning what I've played since it took most of my week up. I will confirm that I unlocked the May 2014 card back in Hearthstone, I only hit rank 20 this month and did not play as much as I wanted to. Bit gutted about not making any progress since I really want to attempt to work my way up the ladder. I would like to try this month but it could be a interesting month. 

May Unlock

We might actually be seeing the new singleplayer expansion being added. It's listed for summer time release which of course could be July/August as well but we could see it this month. If this happens I can see the arena plays being pushed to the side while I do the raid story. I will be going for rank 20 again since there has been another backing listed for unlocking this month. Check out the very colourful and unique rainbow card, no theme on World of Warcraft this time around.

June Unlock

Think that's it folks for my gaming, I do have some thoughts on upcoming games I want to talk about but I really could do with some lunch so I'm off to cook some Tomato soup.
~Iznic

Child of Light Deluxe Edition Unboxing

Afternoon folks,
Feels strange doing another post so close to the last ones, unlike me to be organised for once. Anyway I've picked up Child of Light earlier and it's currently installing so I thought it be a great time to do a unboxing post while I'm waiting. So let me introduce you to the Child of Light Deluxe Edition...

This is the PlayStation 4 version which does with the PlayStation 3, the main game of course is a digital game so it's just a code in the box with the extra goodies. Normally I would not go out of my way to get a special edition for a game I'm unsure about but the price was just too good, the game by it self is £11.99 while the deluxe was £15.99. So for an extra four pound for a keyring, DLC, artbook and a poster it was a bargain.

The poster is made of a better quality paper and the artwork is beautiful, but I do find the princess a bit freaky. Not something I would go out my way to put up to be honest but I will give credit on how well it was drawn and done.

The rest of the box is taken up with the packaging holding the light up keyring which is based on the companion in the game. Not tried the the light yet but it is cool, might hang it on my bag with my Elderscrolls Online key chain. Does remind me of the Dragon Quest slimes in one way when I look at it.

Finally we have the small artwork book is which only a few pages, I was not expecting much since the price was cheap. The cover is just normal card but the artwork inside was great, check out below for a photo of just two pages (my favourite images of course).

Of course I do have two DLC codes for the Dark Princess skin and the golem pack, not sure how they turn out yet since I'm still waiting for the game to install but I will get a screen shot up soon. Will give a shout when I add it to the post later. Anyway that's it for this special edition, not the biggest one but I would say it was worth the four pound in cost for it. Hopefully the game will turn out amazing and expect a post tomorrow or Friday from me about how amazing it is. Until then have a good one folks and hope you enjoy your night.
~Iznic

Assassin's Creed Unity

Morning folks,
Few days ago a "leak" came out about the new Assassin's Creed game and showed off two screen shots from the ALPHA. It revealed the game was for the next generation consoles only and that another game was in the works for the past generation. Also it it revealed the setting for the game being France in the 18th Century. The leak was posted up on Kotaku which you can find here, there is a quite a few screen shots to check out plus the logo (See below)

Leaked Logo thanks to Kotaku

Anyway last night was the final reveal from Ubisoft and it was confirmed that the leak was real, the new game is called Assassin's Creed Unity which takes place in the French Revolution. Check out the teaser trailer below ...



Cannot lie I was hyper yesterday when I saw the news and I had to stop myself from jumping on the spot. I'm looking forward to see what's new and how the story is going to fold out with the Templar's, plus I'm very excited to see what the second game could be. Will it be in the same setting or a completely different one, so many questions right now and lets not forget what awesome collectors editions will they do this year. Although it's going to be expensive year if there is two games this year.

Anyway soon as more gets posted up I will do more updates but for now Arno the new Assassin will have to wait, graphics look amazing by the way.
~Iznic

Gamers Year Day 3/4/5

Evening,
So four days to cover in this post for my year progress and like I mentioned in the last post not a lot was done this weekend. But I did have a good gaming session yesterday which made up for the whole weekend, anyway onto the day posts.


DAY THREE - 3rd January 2014
Not much to report for this day other then I did start the multiplayer for Assassin's Creed Liberation. This game is on my list to get the platinum for but I won't be doing the singleplayer stuff just yet because I have planned for this year to do a full marathon for Assassin's Creed. The entire series starting with one since it's been a few years since I played the older ones, plus the fact I picked up the anthology set last year on PS3 so got plenty of trophies to earn while doing it. Anyway I decided to start the multiplayer since I heard it was similar to a facebook style game and takes a bit of time to get all the trophies.

It's shockingly bad and I'm really surprised with Ubisoft allowing it to be like this. You send agents out on missions or do combat missions which involve stats, actually that's a lie your stats don't matter you always win. Only thing that does matter is energy since you need that for your agent to bring in points. Every seven days is a cycle where the world fights for control of cities and the side with the most wins, of course everyone picks Assassin's so it's one sided. Honestly if I wasn't going for the platinum I wouldn't be touching the multiplayer at all.

So yeah I've started the grind with that on the night and also I picked up a new game for my collection while I was out. Spotted Lego Chima for the Vita in HMV for half price which was the cheapest I've ever seen it anywhere. Tried out the first level and it's pretty much similar to Lego Lord of the Rings so I've put aside next to the games to be clocked over the next few months ready. I know I'm putting a pile together and shouldn't but it unless I'm going to play but it was cheapest I've seen it all year, was not going to turn it down for that price. That was day three pretty much wrapped up so onwards to Saturday!


DAY FOUR - 4th January 2014
Very little to report other then continue with the grind of the multiplayer for AC Liberation, about half way for the first trophy though.


DAY FIVE - 5th January 2014
Sunday was the best day for gaming for me and especially since it was my day off, had a proper chilled out day to myself. Started off with the PS4 and did a few collectibles on Lego Marvel, even got past the annoying flying challenge I was stuck on (how I hate the flying controls). Actually was really getting back into the game and will be focusing more time on it to try and get it fully clocked.

Jumped over to the PS3 and went back on Minecraft and clocked about another six trophies, I'm pretty much all covered now on the crafting stuff. I spent hours building the mine cart track for the 500m trophy then spent over an hour bow duelling with skeletons to get the 50m sniper trophy. Got to say that was one of the most annoying trophies I've ever earned. So all that is left now is four trophies for the platinum, all combat ones as well so I'm currently working on finding some diamonds to make a full set of armour and weapons so I have the full advantage.

Finally I rounded the day off with a multiplayer session of Tomb Raider with a friend, trying to get all the multiplayer trophies for the PS3 version out of the way ready for the next generation at the end of the month. Did pretty sweet last night and got up to level 16/17 I think with about four to five trophies for my troubles.


Very good end to the weekend really and I'm charging full steam ahead for my year challenge, really getting back into the spirit of earning trophies and achievements. Just wished I had bit more time over the weekend since I really wanted to get something clocked. Not much time left today either as well thanks to work so don't expect Day Six to be any good but I am about to head off and get a small session in before bed so on that note have a good one folks.
~Iznic

E3 2013 Ubisoft Conference

Finally doing another E3 post just took me nearly a month to sort it out, this time it's the Ubisoft conference which was great for games but terrible for the script (sorry but the horrible jokes really need to stop). The whole "look I play games too, I'm cool" is just not needed, talk about the new games and stop trying to "connect". Anyway enough with that and lets talk about the games, first here is the conference from Ubisofts Youtube channel just in cased you missed it or if you want to refresh your mind.



Don't forget I'm only going to talk about the games I'm interested in, sorry folks but this blog is about my gaming adventures. Ok first up is the new Splinter Cell Blacklist which is still looking awesome, shame they only showed a few minutes but I think that's because it's out next month so not too long to wait. Hoping the story is going to be pretty sweet and some of the game mechanics better then Conviction (really hoping anyway).

Next game was a surprise for me and that's the Mighty Quest for Epic Loot, looks like it could be a pretty sweet arcade game. So far though I've only heard about it coming to the PC (browser game?), seriously this would be an awesome arcade/PSN title or even a Vita/3DS game. Build up a castle with lots of traps to stop others from stealing your loot while you raiding their castle, who would not want to play it. Plus I love the CGI trailer for it, I do like my comedy films and it was spot on.

Rolling on another small clip for the South Park game which please god release this game, really hope nothing else happens because I really want to play the Stick of Truth. An RPG game based on the South Park TV series, how can this go wrong! the script looks hilarious. I'm just worried with all the delays and Publisher change over that it might not be as good as I hope, really got this game on a pedestal right now. Come on Ubisoft make sure to get it ready for Christmas and make sure it's brilliant.

I have noticed one thing with this conference that a lot of the major stuff I was interested in was only covered for a few minutes. Think it's because most of their games was covered in the main Microsoft/Sony conferences but you would think they would keep something for themselves.

Watch_Dogs and Assassins Creed 4 Black Flag both look impressive, I will cover them more in the other conferences but both games are on my top ten want list right now. Anyway last game of the conference I was interested in was the new announce of Tom Clancy Division. An RPG (well so they say) online shooter, drop in and drop out with your friends as you explore a world falling apart. The gameplay level they showed off looked good but I won't get my hope up too yet, I will wait to see more because all I keep thinking is "End War", good game but not as good as it should had been.

So that's it for me with the Ubisoft conference, was not the best one but it did show off some impressive stuff. They have quite a few games on my want list this year so hopefully they will be great, really looking forward to playing the new Assassin's Creed although I really wish I knew about the story with how its related to the present time.

Also got massive hopes on Watch_Dogs, man that game could be my game of the year for 2013 if it's done right. Anyway I need to go since I need to continue my gaming marathon so have a good night folks.
~Iznic

Going to be a busy one

Morning folks,
Currently waiting on my PlayStation 3 to finish installing Assassin's Creed Brotherhood, seriously forgot how terrible the load/install times can be. Reason I'm doing this is so I can redeem all the codes in my Anthology edition, spent the morning so far doing it for all different games since I keep putting it off and knowing my luck the codes will expire. Anyway while that is sorting out I thought it be a good idea to get a blog post up, especially with the fact my weekend was crazy and nothing was posted up. Plus this week will be a busy one since we have the Batman trailer going up today and of course the huge Xbox Reveal tomorrow.

Not sure how I'm watching the reveal tomorrow but I will be Twittering either way about my thoughts, then my plan is to copy all the Tweets onto a blog post to put up here. This is going to be test practise since this is what I was planning for E3, should be interesting to see how this will turn out.

So other then being excited to see what is revealed tomorrow I think it's time to update about my gaming adventures so far. Well in the multiplayer area I've got up to level 39 on Tomb Raider so getting close, of course it's taking more XP each level so it is dragging a little. Really cannot wait to hit level 60 so I can just focus on the kill achievements. On Gears of War Judgment I clocked the 10 wins on Team Deathmatchs in the week and now working on the 10 wins for OverRun, after that it just levelling up and working on the 100 kills for each Locust which will probably be a huge pain in the ass.

I did do some Call of Duty Black Ops 2 multiplayer this week, mostly because I redeemed my COD Ghosts weapon skins and wanted to see what they look like. Not bad to be honest just black with the white skull but the nice touch is the code gives the skin for every weapon in the game, thought it was just for the one gun so really happy about that. Had a few matches and laughs, in fact came top in my team on the one match which was shocking. I did plan to do some Battlefield 3 as well but Skyrim took over and well it was nearly midnight when I finished.

I bought a house in the game (cheer) and then took on another random Dragon who nearly had me, ok that's a lie the entire fight was not my best. So need to restock on health potions and find a better way to fight a Dragon because I struggle. Oh yeah I was in Windhelm and ran into a Orphan girl, as I walking past her I overheard her say that no one bought her flowers again.

Now folks when I heard you could have a family in Skyrim with the new patch I wasn't fussed about it, in fact I planned not too because my thoughts was "what is the point". I had a family in Fable and it just annoyed me, plus I love having the great warrior with no ties background. Anyway back to the Orphan story, so I over heard her saying she had not sold anything. Yeah who ever said that gamers are heartless and that video games cause violence have no clue because I had to turn around and talk to her. I thought buy a few flowers from her and help her to be nice (dang my good nature!), well I got the fully background history from instead. Both her folks are dead and she now selling flowers to buy food so she can survive.

Good lord my heart broke! damn myself for being nice and getting into stories too much. So I tried to adopt her but at the time I had not bought my house yet since I was still 600 gold short. Hearing her voice sound happy at the chance to be adopted then go sad when I don't have a house yet so I couldn't adopt her. Well as you can imagine I charged out to get more gold, of course I was so determined that ran right into a Dragon (the one I mentioned earlier) and was nearly a BBQ. Next time I load the game I will be adopting her, well I think I need to sort the house out first so she can stay there but that is the plan.

So that my friends is why I love games! because the story can really suck you in.

~Iznic

P.S. My plans for the week? other then watching a ton of new stuff being announced I will be working on my multiplayer games again, cleaning up lego Lord of the Rings and of course Skyrim.

The weekend is here

Morning folks,
So Friday came around quickly and so I thought it be a good time to get a post before the weekend started off. In the ways of gaming I've not really done much with Skyrim this week since last Monday, I did kill my first random Dragon which was awesome but I really could do with picking up some more potions though. Hoping to get some time back in over the weekend and next week to try and sort an hour or two a day dedicated to the game.

Mostly this week I've been working on Lego Lord of the Rings in the ways of collecting all the red bricks I need to 100% the story levels. Doing alright so far but still got quite a lot of collectibles to find so it's still a long way off from the Platinum trophy. Also this week I've still been playing the multiplayer for Tomb Raider and Gears of War Judgement, clocked another four achievements in Gears and working on levelling up slowly. Might jump on the special event this weekend and play on the VIP list to get double experience points. Tomb Raider I've hit level 35 out of the 60 I need and slowly going up but taking it's time, might try and have a small session over the weekend and see how close I can get to 60.

Plans for next week will still be the same and that's continue with these four games for now, not adding a new game until one of them is finished. Oh that does remind me and yes I am still playing Minecraft but I need to get a journal post up about it. I will try and get that up in a second, sorry about the delay but it completely slipped my mind.

Speaking of Minecraft did you see the release of Terraria on consoles a month ago? I had ago at the trial and really unsure what to make of it. It's like a 2D minecraft but with a lot more action in the ways of more monsters, boss fights and lots of stuff to collect (e.g. armour sets).



Has I said I was really unsure what to make of it and I did play the trial, I will admit I was getting confused very quickly. Might have to try it again because it looks to be an awesome game and right up my street. If anyone has played it drop a comment on the post since I would love to hear some user reviews about it.

Now since I've seemed to have jumped the topic over to arcade games and trials I might as well stick with this topic for a little longer. I did download the Farcry 3 Blood Dragon trial to see what all the fuss is about. Yeah it's a very retro 80's scifi game and I got to say I love the old style cut scenes and dialogue for the game. Once I've clocked a few games I will be picking it up, I was going too but I know I wouldn't play it straight away since I'm working on a ton of things.

Ok I think that is it for ramblings in this post and I will leave you readers be for a bit, but before I do there is one last note I need to make. If you read my blog you know I've forgotten all about my two for one challenge I was working on a few months back. I did realise in a post a few weeks back and said I will sort it out, well I am going to it's just I need some more time to sit down and to update the list. Plus I need to work out what I've bought in the last few months so that will take a bit of time as well. Keeps your eyes open and I will put up a general post once I've updated it so until then have a good one folks.
~Iznic

Watch_Dogs

Morning,
Seems Ubisoft went to town last night and put up a new trailer for Watch_Dogs, if that wasn't enough they then showed off the four special editions for the game. I swear I might as well just give my wallet to them since I want three of those editions (not to mention there is three editions of Splinter Cell and three editions of Assassin's Creed 4 Black Flags I want as well).

So let's start off with the trailer I was going to post up today from the PlayStation 4 reveal conference.



Another amazing game I want for my collection, that open few seconds as you walks down the street is just ... wow. I love how it just simple quick buttons to hack anything you want, blowing the power box in the chase. Lifting the street barriers to take out the Police car and then stopping the train to jump onto it, such small details can make such a big difference. Of course this trailer left me with lots of questions like what the hell is going on and who was hacking the cameras to watch him.

The new trailer that went up last night was just a quick two minute thing just confirming that the main character is a Vigilante and you after a group of people, from the looks they called a love one of yours. Still looks amazing and two minutes of plenty of actions finally with a release date and confirmation of the collector editions.



So lets get down to the main point of the post, well first the release date for North America is 19th November and 22nd November for Europe. Nice Christmas present right there for everyone folks, anyway lets talk special editions and collector editions.

Special Edition

First up is the box standard Special Edition, now folks I will be talking about the UK information mostly so don't forget to check your local retailers and online to see what your country is doing. Anyway first up is an exclusive to GAME in the UK, the special edition is the box standard game with a slight edition to the cover art to show that it comes with just one bonus mission. The mission is called the "Breakthrough pack" and rewards you the "_Vehicle Expert Perk"

So the information for this mission goes like this, there is a meeting going on in the city by a group called the "Chicago Club" and some corporate CEO's. Looks like a power play from the sounds of it and your job is to race around the city finding all the scramblers who are blocking anyone from being able to do surveillance on the meeting. Take them out so you can then photo this meeting to upload to the world to expose them. Sounds interesting and the reward is free cars from your underground contact and discounts, so the mission is worth doing.

Uplay Edition

Uplay is the Ubisoft online shop this is their exclusive edition, again you get everything from the Special Edition but this comes with a very nice steelbook. I love my steelbooks and I know quite few collectors, this will be a nice edition since I love how they done the silver background with colour for the character. You also get two extra missions in this edition on top of the Breakthrough, the Palace Pack sees a Police Raid on a Internet mogul who has a huge data bank of profiles in his home. One profile is yours so it's a race against time to get into the Palace to wipe the hard drives before the raid happens. You get two rewards for doing this which is a boost to getting more cash from hacked ATM's and a hacking boost which grants more opportunities to investigate in the network (not sure what that is about, guess we will have to wait and see).

The last mission is called "Signature Shot" and this time a Biometric weapon as been smuggled into the city for the leader of a gang called Black Viceroy's. This weapon will only work for the first person to use so you breaking in to get it for yourself. Of course the reward is the weapon it self, a Biometric Assault rifle and the gang's outfit for your collection.

Vigilante Edition

Now this is a collectors edition and you actually get the mask and cap with it. I know it sounds geeky but I really want this and yes I could see myself wearing those!

So yeah you get a very nice collectors box plus the cap and mask, also added is the sound track from the game. Disappointing though is you only get one bonus mission with this edition and that's the Palace Pack again. I would had really thought they would had included at least one more mission pack with this edition but oh well it's still pretty sweet.

DEDSEC Edition

The final collectors edition is the DEDSEC and like most of Ubisoft main editions it's the figurine again. The figurine is pretty sweet but I don't know, after the Black Flags one I don't think it comes close to the awesomeness. Would had been sweet if they had done a bonnet of a car with him jumping over it like you see in most trailers.

Anyway again you get a collectors outer box that it's store in, the soundtrack is once again added plus a map of the city. You also get a artwork book from the game along with a couple of pin badges and some augmented cards to play around with. The main cool stuff though is the steelbook which is the opposite to the Uplay edition, this time the background is back with a silver/little colour for the character. Add in all three missions as well and the figurine wraps up this edition.

By the way don't get me wrong I do like the figurine, it really shows off the main character with his phone but I do wish they had gone crazy like the Assassin's Creed one. So which one do I want you wondering? well I want the last three, I love steelbooks and collector items. Which one will you be getting folks?
~Iznic

Assassin's Creed 4 Black Flag

It came to me last week that I never did a post about the full reveal for this game, I remember doing the rumour post for it and the confirmation that Ubisoft are in fact making it but when they did put up the details and the trailer I forgot to post. Since then there as been two trailers, information, collector editions and pre-order bonuses. So I've decided to go with a huge blog post dedicated to everything I missed about this game, you probably have read it elsewhere but who cares! Assassin's Creed rocks!.

So let's start with the announcement CGI trailer that came out on the Monday after the rumours.



Looks awesome right? I've been wanting a proper Pirate game in ages, well one that works anyway and this looks like it will hit the nail on the head. I love the fact we will be treasure hunting as well, soon as I saw the scene with the diving down to the sunk ship it was a must buy. Although to be honest it was a must buy soon as they said new Assassin's Creed game. Anyway it will be interesting how it will play out, I love the fact we have two cutlass swords and four pistols. Should be some amazing fighting combos with all those weapons, I bet the reload times will be a pain in the ass though.

I do have a few worries though, one is the story tying with the assassins. The new character has been trained by assassins and you do see a scene at the end of him taking someone out but I get the feeling he's more rogue then working for the Brotherhood. I'm just worried they will focus too much on the Pirate theme and forget that this games about the Assassin's vs. Templar. Anyway the second worry is that the game is coming out on current generation and next generation. I'm hoping the PS4 version is not just a current generation game with a patch job, especially with the rumour prices starting at £50 for the next generation games. If I'm paying £10-£15 over a current generation version it needs to be worth the money. Will have to see how things turn out over the next few months, expecting to see Lot's at E3 this year.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

So that was the announcement trailer and since then a lot of information has been announced, few weeks back they put up the Collectors editions for the game and just like Splinter Cell there are plenty to choose from. Before I go into this folks just a reminder that I will be listing the editions for the UK market, other countries might have different editions or being support by different retailers. Check out your local stores for information for your country.

To start with there is a special pre-order bonus with the retailer GAME, placing a deposit in store and you can get a Treasure map poster. Check out the picture below to see how awesome it is, the poster is nearly A3 in size and shows the in-game map off with four treasure locations. When you place the pre-order and get the map you also get a DLC code for the four treasure locations in the game, one of which is exclusive to GAME.

Andreas Island
Cage Island
Florida
Havana (GAME Exclusive)

Just an heads up the treasure map poster is for the local stores and if you order online you will receive a PDF version instead. With that out of the way let's talk special editions and collector editions, starting the basic one which again is a GAME Exclusive.

GAME Exclusive Special Edition

The Exclusive Special Edition is pretty much the same as the past years where you get a copy of the game with the cover slightly altered to say that comes with a few extra bonus DLC. In this case you are getting Captains Kenways Legacy which is bonus items for both singleplayer and multiplayer. Plus the mission Sacrificed Secrets where you chase after Captain Drakes treasure which includes a golden cutlass and flintlocks (pistols).

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Skull Edition

Say hello to the first collector editions which is the lowest price, this is the Skull Edition which most retailers will be stocking. You get a copy of the game of course plus a Jumbo steelbook with the new Pirate Assassin Logo on the cover. Still trying to find out what the Jumbo steelbook is meant to be, I'm assuming similar to the Mass Effect one that came out on the Xbox 360 but unsure at the moment. You also get the soundtrack and artbook like most collectors editions plus an art envelope containing two Lithographs. Finally in the ways of the DLC content you get the stuff from the Exclusive Special Edition (Sacrificed Secrets and Captains Kenways Legacy) plus a bonus singleplayer mission Hidden Mystery which takes you on a journey following Stede Bonnet's path to find his secrets when he adventures in St Lucia.

Interesting enough right now this edition is the same price as the Exclusive one above on the GAME website, so a bargain to be had here folks. Unless of course you want more in which case check out the next two editions.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Next up is the Buccaneer Edition which is a GAME Exclusive collectors edition and one of the most coolest I've seen so far.

Buccaneer Edition - GAME Exclusive

So first you get a outer chest collectors box which looks awesome, reminds me of the AC3 one they did. I like it when Publishers put the extra effort into the outer box as well, shows me they do care and you know the product will be good quality. Anyway again you get everything that is in the Skull Edition well except the steelbook which is a shame really. This time though instead of the steelbook you get the awesome looking Captain Kenway statue, it's meant to measure at 45cm tall. I love the detail gone into it, the swinging pose and the Pirate flag on the mast is a nice touch. Instant buy for me soon as I saw it, I prefer the figurines with more of a diorama then a simple standing facing front.
Anyway one extra DLC mission is also included in this edition, the Black Island which has exploring the island to find Captain Morgan's sunken ship that contains legendary sailing equipment. So one nice looking collectors edition right? tempted no? price is currently set at £79.99 on the GAME website so not a bad price really since all the past big editions have been that price. But before you go running off to order let me show you one more edition.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Say hello to the Uplay exclusive Black Chest Edition...

Black Chest Edition - Uplay Exclusive

This edition will cost around £120 depending on what format you have it on but you can see why the cost is so steep. The figurine is one of the best out there and my god do I want it for my collection, it stands at 55cm tall as well so don't expect a small thing to arrive. I love the detail gone into the front of the ship, this how all figurine should look. Anyway you also get the same DLC as the Buccaneer with several extra items, "Pride of the West Indies" "Trove of Mystery" and "The Castaway's Prize" which I cannot find any information about yet. Although if you read the image it says all pre-order bonuses so I'm assuming these are unannounced pre-order bonuses for other retailers.

Anyway you get a cool chest collectors box, world map, the same two lithographs again but this time you also get two canvas prints as well. Check out the top right corner of the image to see them, they look amazing and I've got to find some space on my wall for them. Steelbook as well is included but does not say anything about being a Jumbo one, but looks to be the same design though. Soundtrack and artbook from the other editions is also in there and finally you get Assassin's Logo flag! as I said earlier this image is one of my favourite new designs.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

So there you have it folks, a ton of collectors editions to choose from again thanks to Ubisoft spoiling us. Are you tempted by any of them? myself I have both the Black Chest and Buccaneer edition on order since I want both figurines, yes I know the Buccaneer is just a cut out of the Black Chest one but if you look it will be bigger version of Captain Kenway. Plus it looks like there are slight changes to the design but anyway you know me for my Collectors Editions, want them all! I also want the Skull Edition but waiting for more information to see what Jumbo Steelbook is. Anyway that's it for this post folks, thanks for reading and don't forget to drop a comment if you getting this game or any of the editions above.
~Iznic

P.S. one last thing, here is the game play trailer for your enjoyment!

More Collector Edition's for Splinter Cell Blacklist

Morning folks,
Last week Ubisoft announced several more collectors for their upcoming Splinter Cell game Blacklist, if you remember a few months back I did a post about two editions that had come to light which can be found here.

Well it seems the Paladin Aircraft Edition is looking to be a exclusive to North America now but the UK/Europe have their own edition now, The 5th Freedom Edition. Before I go into that let's start with the basic editions and move the way up, heads up folks this information is for the UK and I'm not sure on other countries but check out your local retailers to see if they have information for you.

GAME Exclusive Upper Echelon Edition

First up is the Upper Echelon Edition which is an exclusive to the retailer GAME, this is a basic standard edition with a few extra goodies. Of course you get the game it self with an edited slevee plus the extra bonus map Dead Coast for singleplayer and co-op mode. Gold nightvision goggles and the upper echelon suit for Sam, HK416 Assault rifle for the game as well. There is also one more item "Elite Digital Ghillie Suit" but as you can tell from the picture there isn't an image of it yet.

So not a bad edition if you not into your big collector editions but you will have a tough choice between this and Amazon pre-order bonus with the steelbook. Anyway onto the first big collector edition for us which is the Ultimatum Edition and every retailer should be stocking this since there is no exclusive rights on it.

Ultimatum Edition

How cool does the digital watch look? I love the fact it's based on the signature nightvision goggles, my only worry is if it's cheaply made but I've pre-ordered it anyway so hopefully I can check it out before I buy. Anyway back to what you get inside this edition, well first a collectors box to hold it all in. The watch itself of course plus a 96 page graphic novel which is meant to lead into the story of the game. Bonus content for the game includes two bonus maps for singleplayer and co-op, Dead coast again and Billionaire's yacht (Bourne Identity anyone).

Of course you also get the golden goggles and upper echelon suit which seems to be in every edition so far, plus an extra set of ghost boots. So there you have it for this edition and I like the looks of it, I like how much effort is gone into the outer box because normally means they have put the time into the rest as well. As I said before though I am a little worried about the watch but have to wait for August to find out.

So we have one more edition but it comes in two variants, this it the Europe version of the Paladin Aircraft Edition also know as the 5th Freedom Edition.

GAME Exclusive 5th Freedom Edition

This bad boy is another GAME exclusive in the UK market, you get the same graphics novel and two bonus maps. Different collectors outer box and you get the steelbook this time (funny since it was meant to be a Amazon exclusive), plus the awesome looking figurine for your collection. The digital content as also been increased with five different goggles, suits and weapons.

Now there is a second variant of this edition which is only currently being stocked by Ubisoft themselves on their site. The 5th Freedom Silver Edition which is pretty much all the same stuff except the figurine is silver with just the goggles being green, the steelbook is also lost most of it's colours and gone for the silver look as well. Also if you look closely at the image you can see the collectors outer box as a silver effect as well.

Ubisoft Exclusive 5th Freedom Silver Edition

So that's it folks for Splinter Cell BlackList and any of you tempted for any of these editions? I've got an order down for both the Freedom and Ultimatum right now but I am tempted for the Silver Edition as well. Doubt I can afford all of them since I would love to get all three, trade the extra games of course and just keep the collectors stuff.
~Iznic

Splinter Cell Blacklist Special Editions

If you not seen the big collectors edition announced for Splinter Cell then I got ask what rock you been living under. Before I start talking about it though there is another special edition that as popped up and not many know about it.

First up I know only of the UK information so sorry for those in Europe and America, check out this awesome site (collectorsedition.org) that's dedicated to gaming collector editions and see if they have any information. Anyway it's a special pre-order bonus for the normal edition from Amazon.co.uk so if you not into your big collectors editions that cost an arm and a leg then might be up your street.

Looks cool does it not? exclusive steelbook which looks awesome, golden goggles for the game, in-game armour suit "Upper Echelon" and a bonus mission to play. Plus a A2 poster is also thrown in which looks to be a map of the world. Not bad to say all that's free when you buy the normal edition, I've placed an order down myself since I doubt I will be getting the collectors edition.

Say hello to the Paladin Aircraft Edition which comes with a Paladin RC aircraft to play with, in the game the Paladin Aircraft is the base of operations. It looks cool and as to be said that's how to make a collectors edition but the price is ridiculous, right now it's only announced for America and its $169.99. You got to hope the RC aircraft is good quality and not like the Black Ops 2 drone, which by the way was made of polystyrene (comes with stickers to repair it as well). If it came out in the UK and was at a decent price then I might be tempted but right now it's not on my radar.

So personal opinion aside lets talk about what you get inside, well of course the remote controlled aircraft is the main item. Graphics novel (88 pages) to tie into the story plus a co-op map then the Upper Echelon pack which is the gold goggles, mission and suit which is what you get in the pre-order edition above.

Well that's it folks for this post, anyone tempted by the Paladin Edition? anyone actually getting the game? I loved Double Agent and did enjoy Conviction.
~Iznic